For my Mondo Beyondo class, we did an exercise intended to help us identify our core values.  One of the first steps was to think about a person we admire and what we admire about them.

My “person one” is my dear friend Kelly, who passed away in May 2010, (this is the blog she kept with her best friend, Kandyce: Notions and Threads). She is a beloved wife and mother who was only 37 at the time. She had a rare breast cancer that “hardly ever came back,” but instead it did, metastasizing to her liver.

Anyone who ever met Kelly would say that she’s strong, smart, creative, cheerful, and compassionate. I just want to be more like her, to love and be loved like her. Oddly enough, in doing so, I am becoming more and more myself.

My core values are:

KIND : : : generous, open, compassionate, fair, wise, helpful, supportive, empathic, sensitive.

BRAVE : : : feels the fear and does it anyway, centered in the wisdom of basic goodness, willing, strong, powerful, vulnerable.

SILLY : : : ”a little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants,” joyous, giggly, loving.

CREATIVE : : : trusting, intuitive, inspirational, healing.

CURIOUS : : : wanting to know more, to understand, to fully experience, non-judgmental.

PRESENT : : : alive, awake, grateful, connected, available, relaxed.

• What are your core values?  Is the life you are living reflecting those values?